JetBlue first introduced their Mint product in 2014, which was a big departure from their business model prior to that. Mint is JetBlue’s premium cabin, available on select A321 aircraft, which primarily operate transcon flights.
I’ve had a ton of respect for JetBlue from the day they launched, and just as they changed up the industry with their superior economy product, they’ve done the same to transcon business class. JetBlue’s Mint cabin consists of a total of 16 seats, including three rows of seats in a 2-2 configuration, and two rows of seats in 1-1 configuration.
The single seats are called “Mint Suites,” and are available on a first come first served basis. What makes them especially awesome is that they have doors. It’s crazy to think that the world’s first business class product with doors was on a US low cost carrier.
JetBlue Mint is also special because of the service. The flight attendants working Mint are consistently exceptional. Simply put, Mint is the best way to fly domestically, in my opinion.
The best part is that they’ve given the competition a run for their money not just in terms of the quality of their product, but also in terms of pricing. Even though JetBlue has the best product domestically, they’ve undercut the competition on pricing, so they’ve caused premium fares to go down in the markets they serve.
We’ve consistently seen them publish $549 one-way transcon Mint fares when booking in advance, though nowadays closer to departure it’s typically a lot more expensive than that (which makes sense, since demand has increased for JetBlue’s great product).
Anyway, if you want to try Mint on the “cheap,” at the moment JetBlue has some exceptionally low Mint fares for travel to & from Boston. I see wide-open $399 one-way Mint fares between Boston and San Francisco, all the way through October.
In March through May I also see wide-open $399 one-way Mint fares between Boston and San Diego.
Lastly, in March I see wide-open $399 one-way Mint fares between Boston and Seattle, while in subsequent months fares start at $449, which is still exceptional (usually the entry level cost for Mint is $549 one-way).
Your best bet is to use Google Flights or ITA Matrix to look up these fares.
If you do book one of these tickets and have access to US credit cards, make sure you maximize the points you earn. American Express Platinum Card® offers 5x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines or through Amex Travel, on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and then 1x, which is a great option if you’re booking directly with the airline.
To crunch the numbers on these fares a bit further, let’s say you book a $399 one-way Mint fare from Boston to San Francisco and pay with American Express Platinum Card®. You’d earn 2,000 Membership Rewards points (which I value at $34) plus 2,140 JetBlue TrueBlue points (you earn 6x points on the base airfare if booking directly through JetBlue, and I value those points at $30). So you’re earning $64 worth of points on the $400 one-way ticket, which brings down the real cost of this to $336. That’s insanely good.
If you haven’t yet flown JetBlue Mint but could get value out of these fares, then by all means take advantage of this. Experience for yourself how good domestic flying can be when you’re taken care of by people who actually seem to enjoy their jobs.
Anyone considering taking advantage of these exceptional JetBlue Mint fares?
(Tip of the hat to CMK10)
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